Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ:WDAY) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the forty brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twenty-five have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $269.0606.

WDAY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 price target on Workday in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Workday in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Loop Capital set a $280.00 price target on Workday in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Workday from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Workday from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th.

Insider Activity at Workday

In other Workday news, insider Richard Harry Sauer sold 1,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $237,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 85,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,933,580. This trade represents a 1.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder David A. Duffield sold 82,884 shares of Workday stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $209.75, for a total value of $17,384,919.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 105,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,034,027.75. This trade represents a 44.10% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 370,321 shares of company stock valued at $78,866,401 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 19.31% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Workday

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Workday by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,009,288 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $5,371,495,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210,232 shares in the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Workday during the 3rd quarter valued at $556,252,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Workday during the 4th quarter valued at about $448,804,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Workday by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 5,842,491 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,406,463,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Workday by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,761,599 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $905,530,000 after acquiring an additional 1,103,421 shares in the last quarter. 89.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Workday Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:WDAY opened at $144.04 on Friday. Workday has a 1 year low of $140.59 and a 1 year high of $281.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $197.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $218.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $37.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.13.

Workday (NASDAQ:WDAY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 25th. The software maker reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.15. Workday had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The company had revenue of $2.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Workday will post 2.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Workday

Workday, Inc (NASDAQ: WDAY) is a provider of cloud-based enterprise applications focused on human capital management (HCM) and financial management. Founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri following their tenure at PeopleSoft, the company develops software-as-a-service solutions that help organizations manage workforce and financial processes in a unified, cloud-native environment. Workday’s platform emphasizes continuous updates, data security, and a configurable architecture aimed at large and mid-sized enterprises.

The company’s product portfolio centers on Workday Human Capital Management and Workday Financial Management, with additional offerings for payroll, talent management, workforce planning and analytics.